NEW YORK -- Barcelonas official motto is mes que un Club, or more than a club in the Catalan language.In an effort to take over the U.S. market, the Spanish soccer powerhouse is showing that its also a global, multimillion dollar business.Looking to capitalize on its biggest assets -- superstars like Lionel Messi and Neymar -- and the growing popularity of soccer in the U.S., Barcelona opened a commercial office in New York that will lead the teams efforts to expand its business, gain more fans across the Atlantic and help the sport grow in America.We are coming to open new lines of relationships with a lot of companies, Barcelona President Josep Bartomeu said Tuesday during the opening of the office. Being in the U.S., probably other brands, other companies will like to partner with us.Barcelona already has commercial deals with four American companies -- Nike, Gillette, Gatorade and Black & Decker. It also claims to be the most popular soccer team in the country with about 19 million fans, followed by Manchester United with 17 million. The Premier League club is owned by the U.S.-based Glazer family, which also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Barcelona has played in sold-out summer tours in the U.S. in recent years, and operates soccer academies in Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina, with more planned for New York and other cities, Bartomeu said.Francesco Calvo, the clubs chief revenue officer, said Barcelona generated $680 million in revenue last year. Their target is to increase the overall revenue to $1 billion by 2021, with the U.S. market considered an important factor in that growth.The (U.S.) domestic (market) is key, said Manel Arroyo, Barcelonas vice president for marketing and communications. But its also key that American companies can discover in us a platform to be known around the world.The Spanish league, La Liga, and other European clubs like Bayern Munich already have offices in New York. Barcelona opened its first overseas post two years ago in Hong Kong to oversee its efforts in Asia.U.S. and China are the main markets, the places where football is growing faster, Arroyo said.But even if other clubs arrived first in the U.S., Barcelona has something every other team in the world desires: Messi.The five-time FIFA Player of the Year has led the team to unprecedented success on and off the field, winning the Champions League four times and the Spanish league eight times in the last 10 years. His stellar play and on-field prowess translates to financial bonanza for Barcelona.Leo Messi is basic for us, Bartomeu said. Everybody wants Leo Messi on their team, and theres a reason for that. (Messi is) not only a sports objective, but more than a sports objective.Besides expanding the brand and reaching out to fans, Arroyo said the club is in New York to learn from U.S. leagues like the NFL and NBA, which he considers the benchmark in the global sports industry.The sports industry in this country is number one, without a doubt, he said, and clearly one of the focuses in this office is to learn from this country. Custom Brooks Robinson Jersey . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. Authentic Custom Orioles Jersey . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. http://www.customoriolesjersey.com/custom-frank-robinson-jersey-large-188a.html . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Cheap Orioles Jerseys . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Wholesale Custom Orioles Shirts . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Klint Carlson scored 22 points and ignited a second-half rally that carried Northern Iowa to a 73-67 overtime win over Oklahoma on Friday night in the winners bracket of the Tire Pros Invitational.Jeremy Morgan scored 17 points, had seven steals and four blocks and Jordan Ashton had 13 for the Panthers (3-0), who rallied from an 18-point second half deficit to win.Jordan Woodard and Kristian Doolittle had 13 points apiece for Oklahoma (2-1), which had only one field goal in the final 11 minutes of regulation. Khadeem Lattin and Rashard Odomes contributed 11 points each.We accomplished a lot tonight with the way the guys stuck with it, Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said. Everything had to go our way for us to have a chance. It was fun to see the guys get rewarded for making a couple of shots and making a game out of it Carlson, who had 18 points in the last six minutes of regulation and overtime, nailed a 3-pointer from straight on to break a 64-all tie with 42.9 seconds left in overtime.I guess I was feeling it, Carlson said. I dont even remember how many shots I took, but at that point, I was just glad they were going in.The Panthers added two free throws to go ahead 69-64 before Woodard nailed a 3-pointer to make it a 69-67 game with 8.8 seconds to go.Morgan iced the game with four free throws in the final six seconds.UNI made five 3-pointers during a 26-5 run that erased an 18-point deficit in the second half. Carlson made three of the bombs, including the one that put UNI ahead 57-54 with 52 seconds left in the game.We didnt handle that run very well, Oklahoma coach Lon Krueger said. But as disappointing as this is, there was a lot to learn from this.dddddddddddd Turnovers, value possessions, finish plays strong, those are all things well get better at.The Panthers pushed the edge to 59-54 with 27 seconds left in regulation before Sooners forward Khadeem Lattin made two free throws and Doolittle hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 12.6 seconds left.Ashton was off with a 3-pointer to win the game for UNI at the buzzer.BIG PICTURE:Oklahoma will love what it saw from the first 30 minutes. The Sooners used their size and strength advantage to build an 18-point advantage and looked like they would coast to an easy win. Lot of really good things at both ends of the floor in the first 30 minutes, Krueger said. Lot of bad things the last 15.The takeaway for Jacobson is that his team has a lot of heart. The Panthers were getting beat every which way, but still fought for every possession and were rewarded. We kept playing defense and rebounding when our offense was not very good and I like that, Jacobson said. And the other thing I like was that a relatively new group believed we could get all the way back.SAD STARTNorthern Iowa committed five turnovers and hit only three of its first 15 shots against Oklahoma. The Panthers shot 25.9 percent (7 of 27) for the first half, trailing 31-18. UNI came into the game shooting 51.8 percent and averaging just 11.5 turnovers a game.UP NEXTNorthern Iowa plays Xavier Sunday night in the championship game of the tournament.Oklahoma will take on Clemson for third-place Sunday afternoon. ' ' '